OLEG POVAfter storming out of my father’s office I forced myself to push the conversation out of my mind. It had played out exactly as I expected, pointless. I barely had a moment to breathe before I was back in that same office, this time surrounded by his most trusted men. We went over the deal, the negotiations, the expansion, and every move that would solidify our power. Hours bled together until the day was gone. By the time we called it a night, it was 2 a.m.I showered, changed, and tried to rest. But sleep never came.All day, my mind had been consumed by business. But now, only one thought remained,” I needed to see my brother”.Viktor.I got dressed, grabbed my keys, and left for the hospital without hesitation. I always went alone, with no security and no driver. Most times, it was at midnight to avoid drawing attention and keep unwanted eyes away. The drive from my father’s mansion was thirty minutes, a route I could take in my sleepAs I neared the hospital, that familia
OLEG POV“What problem, and how bad is it?” My voice was steady. My eyes, however, remained on my brother.A shaky breath came from the other end of the line. A mistake.“We… we lost track of Elvis Andreyev.” His voice carried the tremor of a man who knew he was about to die.“What the hell do you mean by that?” I asked with the last shreds of my patience.My attention shifted from Viktor for the first time since this call began. We were certain he was home last night since he was last seen earlier this evening. But then… his father arrived, and abruptly, there was chaos over his whereabouts, he stumbled over his words as he answered.I went still. The silence between us thickened as I checked the time it was around 4 a.m. here, which meant it was around 6 a.m. there. If he was still missing now, that meant he hadn’t been home all night.As the realization fully sank in, I uttered."WHAT?"The chair scraped against the floor; careful not to disturb my brother, I strolled out of the ro
OLEG POVNadia and I knew each other too well. In truth, our bond was stronger than either of our relationships with our older brother or father. But of course, I wasn’t the only one who had once been close to that two-faced rascal.If I searched my memories, I’d remember that my sister and Elvis were even closer, given they were only a year apart. She was naturally too headstrong for her good, and wouldn’t have listened to me. If anything, it was only a matter of time before she reached out to him.The real question was what had they talked about, and was it tied to his disappearance? But she seemed unaware and pressing her for answers would be pointless. I needed answers from someone else. I pulled out my phone and dialed a direct line to someone I had placed near Elvis for situations exactly like this. A few beats passed before it was picked up, but instead of an immediate report, I was met with the distant hum of voices, laughter, and loud music."Why is there so much noise?" I
ELVIS POVAs I stepped out of the room, I stole one last glance at the lady lying there, her breaths slow and even. I didn’t know her name, her number, or even if she went to my school.” Yet, somehow, I had revealed things about myself I never should have.The realization hit me like a ton of brick as I drove home, my head still pounding from the hangover, each turn of the wheel forcing the truth deeper into my mind.A small part of me felt relieved she was still asleep, I didn’t want her to get a good look at me. Truth be told, I couldn’t even remember her face. The haze of liquor, the dim lighting and the way the night had blurred together were all a mess in my head. I told myself it was mutual with her but that wasn’t what worried me the most. It was the flood of missed calls I woke up to.None of the men assigned to watch me had been at the party. Not even Pavel. That alone sent alarm bells ringing in my head. He wouldn’t have let me stay out all night. Pavel was many things, a
ELVIS POVA storm of conflicting emotions churned inside me. My father despised wasted time, especially in places that held no value for me. If he had known I was at a party, he would have torn the entire place apart without a second thought. Yet, he hadn’t, I pondered the possibilities, carefully weighing my options.he fixed me with an intense stare, his lethal voice slicing through the silence.“You don’t hesitate when I ask you a question, remember?” His tone was clipped. “Do you need me to remind you, boy?”I stiffened, my pulse spiking. “I was at—” I faltered, “The library.”The lie slipped out before I could stop it, the only excuse I could grasp in that split-second of panic. That excuse had always worked before. As the son of Mikhail Andreyev, I had been raised with a strict set of rules where perfection was the bare minimum.His lips curled into a mocking smile. “And you didn’t think the penthouse was convenient for that?” he drawled, baiting me and waiting for me to slip. B
ELVIS POVAfter slipping out of Montenegro unnoticed, my father and I, accompanied by a few men, boarded a commercial flight to Russia. It felt strange even after years of traveling by private jet. Meanwhile, the rest of our men dispersed separately, each making their way.Upon landing, a few guards, dressed as civilians silently led us to the waiting SUVs, our luggage already loaded. I slid into the backseat, Pavel taking the passenger seat beside the driver, while my father rode in the car ahead.Shifting slightly, I unfastened the top three buttons of my shirt, letting the fabric loosen just enough to reveal a sliver of my bare chest. I wasn’t sure what look suited my return, but I settled for this along with pants. My hair, now back to how my father preferred, had been styled into a wolf cut, though I had tied it into a messy bun to keep it out of my face.As the convoy moved, I cracked the tinted window just enough to let Moscow’s crisp air drift in. It carried the warm scent of
ELVIS POVI had no idea how to react, so much had changed between us that I could only manage an awkward greeting. Just before I got a word out, Luca lunged forward, enveloping me in a crushing embrace, only after making sure our mother was securely seated in her wheelchair. The sight of her in that condition struck an aching chord in me. "I was worried about you, but damn, look at you!" he said, his half-smile deepening the dimple on his right cheek as he stepped back. His gaze roamed over me, absorbing every change. "More muscle, extra pounds, and taller too." His comment pulled a reluctant grin from me.Luca and I were fraternal twins, yet we were entirely different beyond our basic sibling resemblance. I had always been the larger one at 6’1”, while he stood around 5’10”. His lean build was a contrast to mine which though slender, now boasted defined muscles with my slim waist accentuated by my medium-built shoulders, honed by the rigorous training I underwent in Montenegro. His
ELVIS POVHis other hand tightened around my throat like a slow game. At first, it was almost playful until it gradually pressed deeper, squeezing the air out of me. I couldn't even see the expression he wore in the darkness, which only intensified the Panic that gripped my chest. One hand broke free from his grip, clawing at his hand on my neck, but he didn’t budge."O...L...EG…” I choked out in desperation, but it only seemed to amuse him further. My body grew weaker, the sounds around me muffled, and I heard my very soul being called from the other side.“Elvis! Hey, Elvis!”The voice cut through the haze, jerking my body violently to reality. I bolted upright with frantic gulps of air. My hands clenched the damp sheets beneath me, my skin clammy, my clothes from the night before drenched in sweat. Disoriented, I scanned the now-brightening space, realizing it was morning. my eyes darting around in search of Oleg or any potential threat. The taste of fear was still thick in my t
ELVIS POVMy father rose from his chair, and I followed suit, instinctively mirroring his steps as he paced the room like a caged lion. His cane tapped rhythmically against the floor until he halted abruptly.""From what I gathered," he said, eyes fixed ahead, "it was Oleg who leaked that video…?"His tone was a loaded verdict masked as a question.Words caught in my throat, stuck between denial and truth.Without warning, his walking stick snapped against the back of my knee. The blow was so sudden, I collapsed with a groan, my leg buckling like it had been yanked out from under me. Pain shot up my thigh as I clutched the floor.you stupid boy, what a waste!! he hissed, like spitting poison through his teeth. “I wasn’t trying to—”. I exhaled shakily, burning hotter than anger.His eyes scanned me.“That footage going around... only you and I knew about it when it was sent to me three years ago,” he stated, leaning on his cane. “It came from a burner number. I made sure to wipe every t
ELVIS POVI pushed myself off the chair and dropped to my knees before my father. My entire body was racked with a violent shiver that I couldn’t stop, my gaze glued to the floor.“The contract. The partnership I bled for,” my father said slowly, each word dripping with seething resentment. “All terminated, because of some filthy little film my son should never have even imagined, let alone allowed to exist.”He muttered the last part under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck like the very mention of it gave him a migraine.“Bitterness surged as I pressed my lips shut“A son who drags his father’s name through dirt.” His voice darkened. “Tell me, Elvis... what punishment fits a son like that?”I was drenched in sweat now, heart pounding like fists against a locked door. It all felt like a repeat, like dejà vu all over again, of that time the video first ended up in my father’s hands. The story I spun. The fallout that followed. And the warped command he etched into my mind to tak
ELVIS POVI stood in the doorway like a ghost exhumed from a life I’d buried long ago, hands tucked deep into my pockets, yet nothing could shield me from the cold that seeped from the walls, making my bones ache as if they remembered the pain before I did."The room hadn't changed in the slightest. The same green sofa where my father once lounged like a king, meting out punishment. The chandelier still hung above like a monstrous steel spider, its harsh light splintering across the polished table—the very one where I used to count reflections, dazed and bleeding, after another 'lesson.' My muscles tensed involuntarily, phantom bruises coming alive beneath my skin. Even the scent hadn't faded: a nauseating blend of cigars, dried blood, and aged whiskey, woven so deeply into the furniture that it seemed to exhale pain."Young Don," a voice called out.I looked up sharply, dumbfounded by how distant I’d become in my skin. But no explanation followed. Instead, I found myself frozen on th
ELVIS POV"Present Moment""Was it Oleg?!"Luca’s voice tore through the strained atmosphere, eyes frustrated, blazing with webs of too many unanswered questions. but his words barely pierced the fog in my mind. I sat hollowed out, like my soul had slipped from my body and drifted somewhere far from this confined room."Elvis!" he snapped again, blistering this time, like a slap to the face. I blinked, dragged back to the present by the raw urgency in his voice."At this rate, you’re signing your death sentence. Get your head on straight, “we’ve got fires to put out." His voice cracked, not from anger, but from a panic that slipped through.Still, whatever concern he had for me faded into the backdrop of the wreckage I’d become."It was that fucking psycho, Oleg, wasn’t it?" he cursed bitterly, pacing now, hands flexing restlessly at his sides.I didn’t respond. My head hung low, fingers digging into my hair, as if the pain could stop me from slipping away entirely. The "family room"
ELVIS POV“Mama!” I called out. My frustration rang out, filling the mansion.She turned to me with an easy smile. “Oh, Ivan, meet Oleg. You remember Sergei mentioning his son at the funeral, right? He and Luca were hanging out this evening, so I picked him up.”My stomach coiled tight. “He shouldn’t be here. Father will be furious.”"I invited him, so there shouldn’t be an issue," she reasoned softly. "Besides, he’s practically your brother. You should be welcoming him, not pushing him away."I snapped my head toward Luca, who shifted uncomfortably under my glare. He faintly murmurs, “We’re just gonna play games and chill, that’s all…”I ignored him, turning back to my mother with a scowl. “No, he’s not. And he never will be.”Oleg merely curved his lips, undeterred by my hostility.“Ivan, don’t be a brat,” Mama scolded, then turned to Oleg, her tone immediately softer.To my annoyance, his expression switched instantly—his usual arrogance replaced by a performance “almost pitiful”.
ELVIS POVBrushing off his comment, I met his eyes, "We are not exactly on brotherly terms to be sitting close to each other," I queried.A hint of mischief glimmered in his eyes. "Sitting in front of someone doesn’t necessarily mean anything, you know that, right? Oleg said smoothly."If you’re talking about going all the way from your class just to sit here with me, then no, I had no idea," I replied, my tone dripping with sarcasm.He tilted his head slightly, then leaned back, resting both hands behind it as if he had all the time in the world. His relaxed composure suggested he was impressed that I’d caught on to his game as he casually folded his arms.I actually came for her," he responded at last, jerking his chin toward a group of girls fawning over him. Without sparing them a glance, he added, "Right?"A chorus of eager voices rang out in unison, each girl scrambling for his attention.I sighed, propping my head on my hand, secondhand embarrassment creeping in."Point taken,"
ELVIS POVAfter the funeral, thoughts of the boy I had met lingered in my mind. His image remained with me, but as time passed, the memory gradually faded. By the time I turned eleven, he had become a distant recollection. That changed when Sergei Petrov's family moved to our town. Word of their relocation spread rapidly, but I paid it little mind, "confident our paths would never cross, and even less concerned with their peculiar son". Unbeknownst to me, fate had other plans. When I was in middle school, the Petrov siblings joined my school, causing subtle ripples to spread almost instantly among students. Just like when they moved, their presence became the center of attention. Stories circulated about their years in the U.S., their impossible good looks, and their remarkable ability to excel at everything they touched. They became the kind of people others admired and envied from afar. Everyone knew our fathers were rivals, entangled in a war across both global business and th
ELVIS POV"Seven Years Ago"Despite having visited Chicago a handful of times during school breaks, I was still unaccustomed to its brutal winters. The cold was relentless, even in the early afternoon, slipping through the heavy wool of my black coat as if it sought to settle in my bones.My mother stood a short distance from the open grave, speaking softly with Sergei Petrov, while his men lingered nearby, keeping their distance. Their conversation faded into the background, my mind too consumed by the emptiness of the moment.As the ceremony concluded, the mourners, draped in shades of black, began to disperse solemnly toward sleek luxury cars now dusted with snow, engines purring softly against the funereal atmosphere. Among them, I spotted familiar faces—figures of influence—men I had seen on television or in the company of my father.Beyond the cemetery gates, reporters swarmed like vultures, cameras flashing against the dull gray sky, desperate to capture any piece of the moment
ELVIS POVI nodded toward Luca and Pavel, signaling them to fall back. Pavel complied, retreating slowly, but Luca hesitated, keeping his weapon trained on Oleg. He didn’t lower it until the very last moment before finally stepping back.Oleg yanked me forward by my shirt, his grip tight, his face mere inches from mine.“What exactly are you trying to prove?” he spat, his voice biting. “Just because I didn’t put a bullet in your skull when I had the chance, you think that makes you special?” His gun pressed against my forehead, his icy stare cutting through me.I exhaled sharply, fighting to keep my composure. “You know, that far from the truth,” I countered, my voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through me. His breath was heavy, fanning against my face as he kept his hold firm.“Shut up.” His voice was sharper this time, a bark of anger. “Just like you did to my brother, I could return the favor right here, right now. So don’t test me.” His tone dropped to a near whisper,